Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 22:03:45 -0500 (CDT) From: Amatia Subject: "Paper and Amber Liquid" by Amatia (1/) Title: Paper and Amber Liquid Author: Amatia Email: violinst@pitnet.net Rating: PG Category: V, FlickFic Spoilers: "Fight the Future" and "The Field Where I Died" (sort of) Summary: A package is delivered the the X-Files office. Notes: Just a short piece I dashed off today speculating on what would happen if Mulder and Scully got their hands on the vaccine. ------ Paper and Amber Liquid by Amatia Fox Mulder sat in the newly renovated X-Files office, a piece of paper and a vial of amber liquid on the desk in front of him. Time and again he picked up the paper, read the message scrawled on it, and set it down again. He did not touch the vial of amber liquid for fear that he would cause the glass to break and the future to be lost. It had been a long trip home for both he and his partner, Dana Scully. She said that they had laid on the snow for almost half an hour before he regained consciousness, and then they had sat there in silence for fifteen minutes afterward just trying to gather some semblance of strength. This was followed by a long walk to his abandoned out-of-gas snowmobile, where it had taken ten minutes to get the radio working well enough to send a plea for help. Another two hours of waiting, and a helicopter had landed beside them. They'd been almost frozen, clinging to each other for any shreds of warmth that could be passed between them. The helicopter had lifted them to the nearest hospital, where the doctors had to place them both in tubs of warm water to return their temperatures to normal. Mulder had had violent flashbacks of his last trip to this frozen land, when he had contracted the alien retrovirus. He could see in Scully's tired eyes that she was fighting the same memories. Then the doctors had ordered them to sleep, and they had, for almost nineteen hours. Mulder remembered that he hadn't dreampt of anything, he was so thankful of the warm bed they'd put him in with its fluffy pillow. The click of the doorknob startled him out of his revere, and he looked up. Scully entered the office, smiled at him, and shut the door behind her. She hung up her suit jacket on the coat rack. "Morning, Mulder. You're here early." There were still red patches underneath her eyes from the broken capilaries, despite her careful attempts to hide them with concealer. He smiled back at her, noting that the dark shadows around her eyes had lessened somewhat, but he couldn't tell if it was makeup or less stress. "Morning, Scully." She saw the vial on his desk. "What's that?" He handed the sheet of paper to her wordlessly, and she took it, casting him the classic raised eyebrow. Then her eyes returned to the paper, and gradually widened as she read the scribbled message. "My God...." she breathed, back up at him, then to the vial on his desk. He nodded in affirmation. She picked up the vial and held it up to the light. The clear amber liquid shot rays of deep yellow-gold light around the room. Scully set the vial back down on the desk, and reached for the box of doctor's supplies on top of a filing cabinet. She withdrew a disposable syringe, and looked at Mulder. "Roll up your sleeve," she said softly. "Scully, don't waste it...." "It's not waste. It's protection." "But you need all of the vaccine we have to study so you can make more, Scully." "No, Mulder," she said, her voice booking no argument. "I don't want to take the chance of you getting the virus. I don't want to have 48 hours in which to find you and save you. I don't want us to have to go through that again." He rolled up his sleeve, and she fitted the syringe in the rubber mouth of the vial and filled it. He winced as she gently eased the needle into his arm, trying not to think of Tunguska. "You're sure...I'm not already protected...after what happened in Russia?" "I don't want to take that chance," she said, pushing the plunger. He was momentarily dizzy as Scully removed the needle and wiped off his arm with alcohol. "You okay?" she asked, rubbing his arm. "Yeah," Mulder said, his head clearing. "It happened in Tunguska, too." Scully placed a bandaid over the injection site, and patted his shoulder. "There you go." She put another cover over the one already on the vial, then wrapped it in some bubble wrap. "Tape," she commanded. Mulder handed her some tape, and she taped the bubble wrap on. "Need a box or something?" he asked. Scully produced a foam-plastic box from her medical kit. It had a biohazardous symbol on it. "I know it's not biohazardous," she said, "but I don't want to take any chances with someone messing with it." He watched her fit the wrapped bottle into the box, then tape the lid on. She set the box on Mulder's desk, then tapped a finger on the letter. "Forged?" "Nope," he said. "It's his handwriting and initials." "How risky?" she asked. "He'll be killed if they find out," Mulder admitted. "Think we should burn it?" "No, Mulder, it's written proof if we ever need it." "Should I have Frohike scan it and put it on CD-ROM?" he asked. Scully debated for a moment. "Yeah. And have the Gunmen keep the original in one of their many locked crevices." Mulder put the paper into a file folder and slid it into his briefcase. "I'll take it over there after work." "Okay. I'm going to go down to the lab with this and see what I can come up with as far as general composition. Want to do lunch?" "Sure. Noon?" "You got it, Mulder." Scully took the box and left. Mulder's cell phone rang. "Mulder." "Well, well, if it isn't Fox Mulder," came an unmistakable voice. Mulder immediately tensed. "Is it true?" "Yes it's true, you idiot," Alex Krycek snapped. "Why?" Mulder asked. "Why what?" "Why'd you give it to me?" "Because I think that you are the person who will be able to do the most with it. Together with Agent Scully, of course." "But you'll be killed if they find out." "Are you concerned about my welfare, Agent Mulder?" Krycek said, laughter in his voice. "No," Mulder stated. "Mulder, they don't know where I am. I left the D.C. area three days ago, and mailed the package to you along the way." "Where are you?" "I'm not telling you that, how insane are you? You think I want you breaking down my front door with a SWAT team and arresting me?" "Krycek, I..." "I know, Mulder. *You wouldn't*." He hung up. Mulder frowned at his cell phone and put it back in his pocket. He picked up the padded envelope the vial and note had come in. It was postmarked Apison, Tennesee. Mulder bit his lower lip, remembering the case he and Scully had worked on in Apison. How he'd been willing to risk it all for the chance at true love. Mulder sighed and put the envelope in his briefcase with the letter from Krycek. He picked up the phone and dialed the Scully's cell phone. It rang in her jacket pocket across the room. He hit the on-hook button, then dialed the lab extension. "Dana Scully, please." He waited a moment until Scully picked up. "Scully." "I'm going over to the Gunmen's now, then I'll come down the the lab and give you a hand." "You? Come help in the lab?" "Yeah," Mulder said, grinning to himself. "Alright. See you then." Scully hung up. Mulder set down the phone, then picked up his briefcase and left the office. ---end--- Nothing Vanishes Without A Trace - New!! http://personal.pitnet.net/london CyberGrrlz - An E-zine for girls with brains and a sense of humor http://www.cybergrrlz.com "Mulder didn't say that it *was* Alex Trebek...it was just someone that looked incredibly like him." -Scully , "Jose Chung's *From Outer Space*"